3 minute read
Although this weekend's racing lacked the stars that we have seen in recent weeks, there were still a number of notable performances and some key horses to follow.
On Friday night the Stephen Burridge trained Vanderbilt impressed in his Singapore debut when living up his short quote ($2.20).
Formerly trained by Team Hawkes in Australia (Old Name: Bugatty), the son of Dreamscape came over to Singapore with some handy form in the book.Rated as high as 105 as a two-year-old, Bugatty failed to reach those heights again, however there is no knock around the form behind the likes of Kuro and Nostradamus.
Bugatty rounded out his career in Australia earlier this year with a narrow win at Moonee Valley, proving too good on-speed.Now under the care of Steven Burridge, Vanderbilt was given just the sole trial in the lead up, finishing second behind Rainbow Warrior.
Ridden by Corey Brown, Vanderbilt jumped away well from the middle draw and enjoyed all the favours, settling just off the speed in second.Travelling strongly entering the straight, Brown appeared to have plenty of horse underneath him and he quickly responded when let rip passing the 300m.
Letting down well, Vanderbilt took the lead inside the 200m and raced away to score by just under two lengths.Likely to take good improvement from the run, Vanderbilt has notably won two of three racing second up and looks to be heading in the right direction for his new stable.
On Timeform ratings, Vanderbilt was marked below his best, which is a good sign moving forward, given he remains open to further improvement.If placed in suitable company at his next outing, he should acquit himself well and is one to follow.
Nova StrikeFollowing up on his handy debut when finishing second behind Magnum, the son of Red Giant took that next step when dominant on-speed.
While the bare margin was only half a length, there was close to 7L back to third and the clock also backed up the strength of the performance.Overall Nova Strike was marked close to 1.5L faster than Vanderbilt and notably was marked 4L slower for the first 400m, emphasising his very sharp turn of foot — his last 600m was run close to 3L inside standard.
This season My Lucky Strike has been close to if not the fastest horse over the 1000m on the polytrack, his quickest recorded: 57.93 seconds.Comparatively Nova Strike was marked just over 3.5L slower than his talented rival.
While raw times are virtually useless when not taking weight, class or ability into account, it can still provide a rough guide as to a horses' potential.When using sectional mark ups, Nova Strike's performance saw him record time figures 14 pounds above the bare form painting a very bright picture moving forward.
He creates plenty of interest for his next outing and is definitely one to place in your blackbook, with Super One now out of the picture - could he be the best 3YO in Singapore?On Sunday evening the Michael Clements trained Imperial March proved most impressive when dominant in the ninth event.
Formerly based in Argentina, the son of Pollard's Vision has continued to race well in his new surroundings and despite his below par performance second up, he was won or finished second each other occasion.A narrow winner two back, Imperial March proceeded to take that next step when saluting easily by three lengths.
Ridden by Manoel Nunes, Imperial March didn't appear to be travelling all that well approaching the straight, under the whip passing the 500m.Taking his time to wind up, Imperial March slowly worked through his gears and took the lead inside the 200m.
Under siege, Imperial March really responded drawing well clear of his rivals over the concluding stages.A Group 2 placegetter over 1810m in Argentina, Imperial March will no doubt improve further stepping up in trip and must be considered a decent chance for the Group 1 Singapore Gold Cup in November.
Since arriving in Singapore he has improved 12 pounds on his debut win and if able to continue his upwards spiral, he is definitely one to stick with.